Actually, I'll be leaving from Cairo the 21st at 3 am, which means that I'll have a free day in Cairo on the 20th.

Any wikimedian company during that last day in Cairo is welcome, even if we might arrange for this on Alexandria ;)

2008/5/29 effe iets anders effeietsanders@gmail.com:

I think this is one of the topics that could be considered as on topic here, actually :)

Lodewijk

2008/5/29 Maria Fanucchi marialadouce@gmail.com:

...

Hi everyone,

I have a little problem concerning staying in Egypt after Wikimania: I have guaranteed lodging with a friend of my family who lives in Cairo, but as far as I know she'll be working all day and therefore not available for sightseeing. Now, I am the first to admit that I am the most scatterbrained, absent-minded person ever; I also freely admit that I get lost in supermarkets (even the one I use every week). I really, truly do. I am infamous for turning a street corner and then wondering which way I had come from. Family members place bets on how far I am from my intended destination whenever I go out. Honestly. I am afraid that if I go out alone in Cairo I will get seriously lost.

My point is, are there any Wikimedians thinking of staying on in Cairo/elsewhere in Egypt after Wikimania? And if there is, would they mind having me tag along while sightseeing?

I asked on the Wikimania IRC channel if it was OK to send this e-mail to the list. They said yes, but I apologize if anyone finds it too off-topic. Feel free to e-mail me directly if you wish to do so.

Happy editing, --Maria User:Arria Belli

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Just for the record, I have confirmed my presence at Wikimania and bought plane tickets. If all goes well, I will be in Egypt from the 16th to the 28th of July. The first four days will, of course, be spent in Alexandria, but for the rest of the time I will be in Cairo. I am especially looking forward to visiting the Egyptian Museum, particularly with Wikimedians. If anyone else is thinking of doing the same, please say so! Perhaps we could arrange a "Wikimedia Takes the Egyptian Museum" day. And another day could be entirely devoted to Khan El Khalili, and another to the Pyramids, and... and so on. I'd be glad to explore the city with you guys, wherever you go. The important thing is to not leave me alone because if I wander off at, say, the Pyramids, there's a good chance I'll shortly find myself somewhere in the desert with the Pyramids nowhere in sight. It's not that I get easily distracted, it's that I'm just not entirely there: my mind is always half in the clouds. Other people are the string that holds it down. Mary provided this link that should, I think, be used more extensively: http://wikimania2008.wikimedia.org/wiki/Travel_coordination It would certainly help to know who will be where after Wikimania. I would, for example, like to get out of Cairo for at least a day, but don't know if anyone else will be doing that. Thanks again for all your comments, --Maria

On 5/30/08, Diana - Sumaq Peru Travel diana_apaza@sumaqperu.com wrote:

Hi

I am living in Cairo, and after Wikimania I will have to work, but I only work on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays so the rest of the weekend I am free for sightseeing, even though I live in Cairo, I have many places to visit as a tourist, so I am open for going out with you Maria or anybody else that wants to join, but I don't know the dates you will be in Cairo...

Here in Cairo, I can manage to go to the Pyramids, The Museum, The Citadel of Salah El Din...and Khan El Khalili, of course taking a taxi ;) so I think we can manage to make a nice sightseeing. Also there are some nice spots at night to visit, like Nile Blue, Morocco, After Eight, or just eat some egyptian food or maybe just take a ride in the Nile in a boat.

;) Diana

Nicolas Dumazet wrote:

...

Actually, I'll be leaving from Cairo the 21st at 3 am, which means that I'll have a free day in Cairo on the 20th.

Any wikimedian company during that last day in Cairo is welcome, even if we might arrange for this on Alexandria ;)

2008/5/29 effe iets anders effeietsanders@gmail.com:

...

I think this is one of the topics that could be considered as on topic here, actually :)

Lodewijk

2008/5/29 Maria Fanucchi marialadouce@gmail.com:

...

Hi everyone,

I have a little problem concerning staying in Egypt after Wikimania: I

have

...

...

...

guaranteed lodging with a friend of my family who lives in Cairo, but

as far

...

...

...

as I know she'll be working all day and therefore not available for sightseeing. Now, I am the first to admit that I am the most

scatterbrained,

...

...

...

absent-minded person ever; I also freely admit that I get lost in supermarkets (even the one I use every week). I really, truly do. I am infamous for turning a street corner and then wondering which way I had

come

...

...

...

from. Family members place bets on how far I am from my intended

destination

...

...

...

whenever I go out. Honestly. I am afraid that if I go out alone in

Cairo I

...

...

...

will get seriously lost.

My point is, are there any Wikimedians thinking of staying on in Cairo/elsewhere in Egypt after Wikimania? And if there is, would they

mind

...

...

...

having me tag along while sightseeing?

I asked on the Wikimania IRC channel if it was OK to send this e-mail

to the

...

...

...

list. They said yes, but I apologize if anyone finds it too off-topic.

Feel

...

...

...

free to e-mail me directly if you wish to do so.

Happy editing, --Maria User:Arria Belli

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...

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No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 269.24.4/1473 - Release Date:

5/29/2008 7:53 PM

...

-- Diana Apaza Gerente de Producto SUMAQ PERU TRAVEL SAC Tel: +511 242-6595 Cel: +511 9961-4116 info@sumaqperu.com diana_apaza@sumaqperu.com http://www.sumaqperu.com http://wiki.sumaqperu.com

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Maria Fanucchi wrote:

Just for the record, I have confirmed my presence at Wikimania and bought plane tickets. If all goes well, I will be in Egypt from the 16th to the 28th of July. The first four days will, of course, be spent in Alexandria, but for the rest of the time I will be in Cairo. I am especially looking forward to visiting the Egyptian Museum, particularly with Wikimedians. If anyone else is thinking of doing the same, please say so! Perhaps we could arrange a "Wikimedia Takes the Egyptian Museum" day. And another day could be entirely devoted to Khan El Khalili, and another to the Pyramids, and... and so on.

I think that those of us who have given ourselves a little more time in Egypt may want to divide our time between Cairo and other places. Those with shorter times may only be able to visit Cairo. A group effort in Cairo for the first two or three days may be a worthwhile option, and those with a little more time could travel a little more in the rest of that week.

I'd be glad to explore the city with you guys, wherever you go. The important thing is to not leave me alone because if I wander off at, say, the Pyramids, there's a good chance I'll shortly find myself somewhere in the desert with the Pyramids nowhere in sight.

The Pyramids may be tall enough to be seen for a good distance. Unless you are an unusually enthusiastic walker it could be enough to face the Pyramids and walk straight ahead to avoid getting lost. :-)

It's not that I get easily distracted, it's that I'm just not entirely there: my mind is always half in the clouds.

An optimist would take this as a symptom of genius. :-)

Ray

I appreciate the honesty. Thank you. I may have the chance to attend the wikimania, but this does lessens my chances. Having delayed the arrangements may prove to be a wrong move. Ticket fares go up as the date of the flight approaches. Regardless if I attend Wikimania 2008, I wish everyone a great meeting, and I hope to see you all in Wikimania 2009 Buenos Aires ( which I'm going to start planning as soon as possible). Thank you and take care

Alberto Conrado

PS.- If a scholarship ommittee member has a little spare time, could they mind telling us (particularly or generally) the reason that we were not chosen? Thank you.

On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 7:14 PM, Cary Bass cbass@wikimedia.org wrote:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1

Hi all,

This is a very difficult note to write, but I believe it's easiest to just write it and be done with it, rather than leaving people in suspense.

If you haven't received a scholarship letter by now, chances are very good that you will not receive one. There may be some cancellations as current recipients determine their ability to fulfill the requirements, thus allowing us to provide for additional funding, but otherwise, we have so far had a very limited amount of money earmarked for scholarships and so many people wanting to come to wikimania.

Note: there is a specific contribution targeted for individuals in the Arabic world (Generally speaking, primary Arabic speakers with nationalities from countries with largely Arabic speakers or this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_world#States_.26_Territories). We're still working on that list of names, so you may very well still have a letter coming if you're from any of these countries.

For the rest of you, I do hope things open up and we're able to get more of you to Alexandria.

---

Cary Bass Volunteer Coordinator

Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running! Support the Wikimedia Foundation today: http://donate.wikimedia.org Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Phone: 415.839.6885 x 601 Fax: 415.882.0495

E-Mail: cary@wikimedia.org -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.8 (Darwin) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org

iEYEARECAAYFAkhJ0ssACgkQyQg4JSymDYmtzACgoGOiCF5MTOelwAF0M3IGznDn E0gAn0UVJIx+bACrwyR82b/j5VHVt1oZ =IxO+ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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I can't believe what you just said above.

But I guess, I am just pissed.

--Anirudh Bhati

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 2:43 AM, Austin Hair adhair@gmail.com wrote:

On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 12:45 PM, José Alberto Conrado Flores fi.mcwan@gmail.com wrote:

...

PS.- If a scholarship ommittee member has a little spare time, could they mind telling us (particularly or generally) the reason that we were not chosen? Thank you.

Unfortunately, with the hundreds of applications we received, we're not able to reply individually to those who didn't receive assistance. This isn't to say that your applications weren't good, or what you weren't deserving—the simple fact is that we have an extremely limited budget, and we chose the people we thought were the best candidates based on the information available to us.

If you weren't sponsored, it isn't that we looked at your application and ruled you out, but rather that we weren't able to accommodate you in our budget. It's very, very difficult to weigh one person's value over another's, and there are a great many candidates I wish we could have helped, but that was the difficult task with which we were charged, and we did our best.

Austin _______________________________________________ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l

Since Anirudh brought it up: there were far more people who applied who *are* very dedicated long-term contributors *and* who couldn't afford the trip *and* who we would love to bring to Wikimania (in some cases, even people who wanted to present talks of some sort) than we could fund. "Merit," as Austin was using the term, means a combination of all of these factors.

Not to mention hundreds (literally) of applications from people who were not contributors, but are simply hoping for a scholarship (and in those cases, I'm sure you'll agree, placing people who are Wikimedians ahead of them, based on their contributions to the project, is fair).

Come on. Show a little good faith towards Austin and Cary, both of whom have been working really hard to get this done.

And to make scholarships better in the future, all we really need is more money. So fundraising ideas and/or ideas for donors are welcome. The scholarship fund does not come out of thin air.

-- phoebe

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 9:05 AM, Anirudh Bhati anirudhsbh@gmail.com wrote:

Apologies for the rushed response.

I was referring to Austin's comment : "the simple fact is that we have an extremely limited budget, and we chose the people we thought were the best candidates based on the information available to us."

I don't believe merit was or should have been an issue here. A large number of us have been long-term contributors to the Wikimedia projects, and to put one against the other would be great injustice. I am sure we cannot use an objective scale to measure performance.

Instead, there should have been a clear distinction made between those who could have afforded it, and those who can't (I am referring to PCI, PPP and HDI differences)

Apologies for being crude, once again.

Best wishes,

--Anirudh Bhati

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 9:15 PM, Anirudh Bhati anirudhsbh@gmail.com wrote:

...

I can't believe what you just said above.

But I guess, I am just pissed.

--Anirudh Bhati

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 2:43 AM, Austin Hair adhair@gmail.com wrote:

...

On Sat, Jun 7, 2008 at 12:45 PM, José Alberto Conrado Flores fi.mcwan@gmail.com wrote:

...

PS.- If a scholarship ommittee member has a little spare time, could

they

...

mind telling us (particularly or generally) the reason that we were not chosen? Thank you.

Unfortunately, with the hundreds of applications we received, we're not able to reply individually to those who didn't receive assistance. This isn't to say that your applications weren't good, or what you weren't deserving—the simple fact is that we have an extremely limited budget, and we chose the people we thought were the best candidates based on the information available to us.

If you weren't sponsored, it isn't that we looked at your application and ruled you out, but rather that we weren't able to accommodate you in our budget. It's very, very difficult to weigh one person's value over another's, and there are a great many candidates I wish we could have helped, but that was the difficult task with which we were charged, and we did our best.

Austin _______________________________________________ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l

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Hi,

Thanks for taking time to respond, Phoebe. :-)

I had seen this message posted on the list by Cary two days ago, and after reading it I was disappointed. I knew I probably wouldn't have been making it to Wikimania this year, without a scholarship. I took it sportingly. The conference doesn't have enough sponsors. It's nobody's fault. But, I didn't think the other candidates would have been a *better* choice at all, just lucky that they applied before some of us could. All of us have spent a considerable amount of time in taking the project where it is now.

Austin wrote:

This isn't to say that your applications weren't good, or what you

weren't deserving—the simple fact is that we have an extremely limited budget, and we chose the people we thought were the best candidates based on the information available to us.

I am sure it wasn't Austin's intention, but to me it came as a slap on the face. Best candidates? That's like saying that the past three years well spent working for Wikipedia and Wikimedia were a waste of my time. That's like saying appearing on the front pagehttp://www1.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2515619.cms(in the print edition) of the world's largest circulated English daily for your work on Wikipedia was a waste of time. That's like saying that a trip to a city a thousand kilometres away just to understand the non-profit laws so that we could better decide where to set up the Wikimedia India chapter was a waste of time. Probably looking for and finding sponsors who would be willing to support the NGO was a waste of time. My attempt at setting up the chapter failed, but it definitely was not a wasted effort.

Come on. Show a little good faith towards Austin and Cary, both of whom

have been working really hard to get this done.

Cary is a friend of mine. A great guy who's competent. I have full faith in him, and that's one of the reasons why I took the rejection sportingly. Moaning / bitching / crying wouldn't help me.

But when someone says that their decision rewarded the "best candidates". Sorry mate, it's a botched up job.

It's like saying reverting vandalism the night before the final exam was a waste of time. It was not. Wikipedia is my passion. I contribute to the cause because I believe in it.

My best wishes to Alexandria organizing team, and I hope that this Wikimania would be a success. :-)

Best,

--Anirudh

On Sun, Jun 8, 2008 at 11:01 PM, José Alberto Conrado Flores < fi.mcwan@gmail.com> wrote:

Thank you Austin, Cary and Phoebe for your answers and dedication.

Just to clear our minds a little (and that is what I meant by "generally"), could you tell us, at least vaguely, which was the profile that the ones who got sponsored fulfilled? ( Amount requested, PCI, degree of contribution to WMF projects, other criteria)

I'm sorry if I may be pushing this issue, but as you can see, some of us are are a bit upset about the outcome.

About future sponsorship. Well, I must admit I didn't do much to get the wikimania more sponsors. As the upcoming wikimania is going to be held in my continent, I'll try to get my university (which is the largest in Latinamerica) to get involved, and I'll try to get in touch with some IBM reps for the continent. I think I may be able to afford that travel by myself, but count me in if you need volunteers for the scholarship committee.

Thank you all.

Alberto Conrado

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